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Listen to a RealAudio (G2) stream of a performance of this work by the All-OMEA Chorus, Jing Ling Tam, conductor.
Download an MP3 file of a performance of this work by the All-OMEA Chorus, Jing Ling Tam, conductor.
(The cover and design of this octavo, created by Christopher Gay for ECS Publishing, won first place in the 1998 Paul Revere Awards for Graphic Excellence, awarded by the Music Publishers Association of the United States.)
Commissioned by the Oklahoma Choral Directors Association for the 1998 All-OMEA Chorus.
This Train is a traditional American song which uses the train as a metaphor for the way to heaven. "This train is bound for glory." Sounds of a train whistle and steam engine are interspersed with the music.
Additional lyrics have been added for contemporary relevance ("This train will stop at the ghetto...and at the factory door"). And new musical sections ("If you reach up, reach up to the sky...") have been inserted to broaden the formal structure.
This song was selected as the basis of this new composition due to the compelling rhythmical nature of the theme and the universal message of the lyrics. "This is the train of freedom and glory and justice, and it's pulling out tonight."
Notes by the composer